The Brenner Base Tunnel

"INTRODUCTIONThe idea of building a summit tunnel under the Brenner occurred to the Italian engineer Giovanni Qualizza as far back as 1847. But it was to be another 160 years to pass before a base tunnel was to be built.In 1971 the idea of a tunnel at the Brenner was dusted off again. The UIC, the International Union of Railways, commissioned a study for a new Brenner railway with a base tunnel. By 1989 three feasibility studies had been drawn up which formed the basis for further planning of the Brenner Base Tunnel.This was the start of the planning activities. In 1994, the European Union included the Berlin-Naples corridor in the list of priority projects. Ten years later, Austria and Italy signed a State Treaty to build the Brenner Base Tunnel. In that same year, what is today the BBT SE was established.PROJECT DESCRIPTIONThe Brenner Base Tunnel (BBT) with a length of 55 km is the centrepiece of the Helsinki-Valletta Transeuropean Traffic Corridor from Finland to Southern Italy. The BBT tunnel system connects in the north with the Innsbruck station (Austria) as well as to the feeder routes in the Lower Inn Valley, and opens to the south with the projected new line in the direction of Verona (Italy). The tangible design efforts have been underway since 1999; the start of construction of the first section was in the year 2007. The project is financed by the Italian and Austrian governments (each 30 %), as well as by the European Union (40 %).From 2027 onwards the Brenner base tunnel, including the existing lines connected with it, will carry a daily average of 330 trains (approx. 80% cargo trains and 20% passenger trains)."